A/HRC/39/41
which includes a national alliance of human rights organizations, institutions and
individuals in the Philippines,16 which was the subject of a joint communication by three
special procedures, regarding vilifying and threatening public statements made by President
Rodrigo Duterte (PHL 4/2018).
88.
Several indigenous peoples’ representatives and human rights defenders advocating
for the rights of indigenous peoples in the Philippines are on this list. In addition to the
above-mentioned United Nations human rights mechanisms, several of these individuals
have engaged with the former United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations,
the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Expert Mechanism on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, and the United
Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights. 17
89.
In a letter to the Government on 4 May 2018, the Assistant Secretary-General for
Human Rights expressed concerned that placing these individuals on a “terrorist” list may
constitute a reprisal for their engagement with the United Nations human rights system, and
he also addressed the matter publicly on 18 May 2018.18 On 8 May 2018 during its 95th
session, the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, under its early
warning and urgent action procedures, urged the Government to remove indigenous leaders
and human rights defenders, including incumbent and former United Nations special
procedures mandate holders from the petition list, and recommended that the Government
adopt effective measures to prevent acts of violence against indigenous peoples, defenders
of the rights of indigenous peoples and other human rights defenders. It requested the
Philippines to provide information no later than 16 July 2018 (see CERD Decision 1/95).
On 8 June 2018, five special procedures mandate holders raised their concerns (PHL
5/2018). At the time of writing there had been no response from the Government.
21.
Russian Federation
90.
On 10 May 2018, the Chair and the Focal Point for Reprisals for the Committee on
the Elimination of Racial Discrimination wrote to the Government about allegations of
reprisals by the authorities against Ms. Yana Tannagasheva and Mr. Vladislav
Tannagashev, human rights defenders advocating for the rights of the Shor indigenous
people of southern Siberia. 19 They had engaged with the Committee in relation to the
twenty-third and thirty-fourth periodic reports of the Russian Federation in August 2017.
16
17
18
19
GE.18-13325
These include Ms. Elisa Tita Lubi, member at large of the Karapatan National Executive
Committee and former interim Regional Coordinator of the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and
Development (APWLD); Mr. Arnold Evangelista and Erlindo Baes, officers of the Batangas Human
Rights Alliance -Karapatan chapter, QRT; Ms. Zara Alvarez, Research and Advocacy
Officer of the Negros Island Health Integrated Program (NIHIP) and former Campaign and
Education Director of Karapatan-Negros chapter; and Mr. Sherwin de Vera, Regional
Coordinator of DEFEND Ilocos, member of the Save The Abra River Movement (STARM) and
former Secretary General of the Ilocos Human Rights Alliance-Karapatan.
These include representatives associated with the Cordillera People’s Alliance, an independent
federation of organizations promoting indigenous communities’ rights in the Cordillera Region,
Philippines: Ms. Joan Carling, an indigenous leader from the Kankanaey Igorot people of the
Cordillera Region, current Member and Co-Convenor of the Indigenous Peoples Major Group for the
Sustainable Development Goals, former Secretary-General of the Asian Indigenous Peoples’ Pact
(AIPP), former member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, former Chairperson of the
Cordillera Peoples Alliance and current member of the CPA Advisory Council; Ms. Beverly Longid,
an indigenous leader from the Kankanaey Igorot people of the Cordillera Region, current global
coordinator of the International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation
(IPMSDL), and former CPA Chair and current Advisory Council member; Mr. Jose Molintas, an
Ibaloi human rights lawyer, former Asia representative to the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) and former CPA Chair and current Advisory Council member; Ms.
Joanna Cariño, an Ibaloi member of the CPA Advisory Council and Co-Chair of the SANDUGO
Movement of Moro and Indigenous Peoples for Self Determination; Mr. Windel Bolinget, a
Kankanaey-Bontok who is the current Chairperson of the CPA and National Co-convenor of
KATRIBU national alliance of indigenous peoples; and Ms. Jeanette Ribaya-Cawiding, a Kankanaey, former Chairperson of CPA-Tongtongan ti Umili and current Regional Coordinator of the
Alliance of Concerned Teachers – Cordillera.
OHCHR, “Human rights advocates in Asia under attack,” Andrew Gilmour, 18 May 2018.
See http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CERD/Shared%20Documents/RUS/
INT_CERD_RLE_RUS_8683_E.pdf.
35